Doubutsu Banchou Coming to GameCube

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The off-the-wall N64 project is canceled in favor of a GCN release. Full story.

By IGN Staff

Famitsu reports that the Sara Brunei-developed N64 game Doubutsu Banchou ("Animal Leader") is no more. The cartridge version of the title has been terminated and the game will now debut exclusively on the coming GameCube console.

Doubutsu Banchou, one of N64's weirdest games, was originally brought to life as a 64DD product, but Nintendo switched it over to cart after the failure of the add-on device. The game pits players in control of a decidedly polygonal-looking block creature that must manipulate a 3D world searching for animals to eat. When this creature comes into contact with the animals, it can literally munch on them and then evolve. The evolution of the odd being seems to be the point of the game and it's a detailed process; players can reorganize the block's shape, change its colors, or even add parts to it ¿ the whole point to climb up the natural food chain.

Confused? Yeah well, so are we. But when we played the N64 version at Space World 2000, we were nevertheless impressed. Tight control and a unique concept made us wish the title wouldn't die with Nintendo's 64-bit console. We're glad it hasn't.

No specific release date is given for the GCN version of Doubutsu Banchou, but we can expect to hear much more about the game at Space World 2001.